Establishment of new Northland water organisation underway

Northland’s three district councils are making progress in the establishment of a new council controlled water organisation, which will be responsible for delivering drinking water and wastewater services across the region.

A joint plan for how the organisation will deliver the services was approved by the DIA last week. It demonstrates how regulatory requirements and quality standards can be met while being financially sustainable and supporting forecasted growth.

Its implementation will be carried out in three phases:

• the scoping and preparation phase, running from now until June 2026
• the establishment and transition phase, from June 2026 to July 2027
• the go-live and operational phase, commencing in July 2027.

Implementation Programme Director appointed

Whangarei District Council’s General Manager for Waters, Andrew Carvell, has been seconded to lead the early phase of implementation on behalf of the three district councils as Waters Implementation Programme Director until a CEO is appointed mid-2026.

Mr Carvell brings a wealth of experience in the delivery of water services having led many major projects across Northland and beyond. More recently, he became a member of Whangarei District Council’s strategic leadership team as General Manager for Waters.

In his secondment, Mr Carvell is responsible for arranging governance and operational team appointments for implementation, defining the council controlled organisation’s (CCO) guiding frameworks, and preparing detailed plans to support a successful CCO establishment.

Mr Carvell said it was a privilege to be recognised for the role and that he was looking forward to continuing to help navigate the complexities in designing the future entity.

Expressions of interest open for interim board

Recruitment for a Northland Waters Establishment Advisory Group (EAG) is now underway.  This group will act as an ‘interim board’ until the CCO becomes incorporated, and a board of directors is appointed in mid-2026.

The EAG will be made up of between three to six members who will provide independent assurance and professional advice to strengthen the decision-making of the Elected Members Steering Group (EMSG) and operational teams.

Mr Carvell said the EMSG would be looking for a mix of experience and skills across governance frameworks and risk oversight, finance and legal assurance, regulation and compliance, community and partnerships, and operations.

“It is intended that the EAG will be able to give elected members confidence that a strong foundation has been established to support the next phases of implementation across the region,” said Mr Carvell.

The Northland Waters Establishment Advisory Board job advert can be found here.

Next steps

In addition to recruitment of the EAG, an operational implementation team made up of staff from across each council is being formed to help reduce overheads.

Foundational documents, including a constitution, shareholders agreement, statement of expectations and transfer agreements are in development, as well as the organisational and operational design, including IT systems, strategies, policies, and performance measures, which will be provided to elected members for consideration.

You can find out more  about  Far North District Council's Local Water Done Well work here.